Kelly, T. MillsGriffith, Misha Mazzini2018-10-212018-10-212017https://hdl.handle.net/1920/11173This study examines the efforts to use communication technology to create a public sphere in two very different circumstances. The first instance was in socialist Czechoslovakia in January of 1968, when a group of reformers were given the leadership of an authoritarian government in an economic crisis. They instituted such reforms as freedom of expression to re-engage the population and revitalize the economy. The second instance was in August of that same year when a foreign military intervention stopped the government’s reform agenda. In both situations, broadcast and consumer technology played crucial roles by engaging citizen participation in politics and the public space.271 pagesenCopyright 2017 Misha Mazzini GriffithModern historyMass communicationEuropean history1968Broadcast technologyCzechoslovakiaDemocratization of TechnologyHistory of TechnologyPublic SphereDissertation